It is always hard to bring your debut show to the fringe, especially when you are bringing theatre to the festival that is a monologue. The Isle of No’Man is exactly that and is performed by comedian and improviser Martin Dixon.

The show is based on the concept of the book that Martin has written of the same name, delving into the characters of the narrative and bringing them to life in the form of a narrative. The story is based around getting on a ferry and going to this island to start a new life after a break up and a romance occurs. I don’t want to give too much away but that is the basis of the show and I would compare it to a modern day romcom with emotional scenes scattered throughout.

The audience are pulled into this world of the narrative by being brought along on the ferry and the world being brought to life in front of them with descriptive monologues that are both entertaining and amusing.

The difference between someone doing a solo stand up show and then someone doing a solo monologue show is that there is so much bravery involved, you can’t rely on the jokes for audiences to react to, you can’t rely on the improvised interactions with the crowd to gain more laughs, instead you have to rely on the script you have written and hope that the audience actually respond well to the words that are placed in front of them.

It is evident that the audience respond incredibly well to the show, laugh at the right places, react at certain points that require interaction and brings the show to life in more ways then one.

The 4pm afternoon spot can be a tough time to have a show, especially if you are new to the Fringe as you are competing against a lot of the big named comedians and theatre shows. However, if you do have time to fit this into your schedule then I urge you to do so as it is different, comical and for a monologue based show is delivered well. Don’t just take my word for it, if you look at the Ed Fringe website as well there are glistening reviews of this show.

If you do enjoy the show there is an option to delve into this world even more as you can also purchase the book.

Rating: **** 4 stars

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